Notre Dame Cathedral on fire!

[ChickenWyngz]

Interested in opinions, I'm all for preserving history, but is there a number that makes this a no go on a rebuild? If you get to 10 billion, is it worth it? Is it priceless?

[Voice of Reason]

Interested in opinions, I'm all for preserving history, but is there a number that makes this a no go on a rebuild? If you get to 10 billion, is it worth it? Is it priceless?

 

It will be rebuilt no matter what the cost.

[TheDeuce]

Somebody's pockets will be lined... No way it costs that much.

[TheDeuce]

However, I find it hard to believe it will cost that much. A new roof, new steeple and fire cleanup for $8 billion?

 

Exactly. If they supposedly removed or saved all the "important" stuff, what costs $8 billion?

[bulldog77]

I have a hunch as to how it started.

 

Sincerely,

Quasimodo

 

 

Now that the flames are out, a question. Did you get your hunch . . . back?

Asking for a friend.

[woodsrider]

Somebody's pockets will be lined... No way it costs that much.

I was thinking the same. Also thought the same when it was posted what it cost to repair the Washington Monument and Capitol.

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

There was a hospital completed in Sweden in 2018 that cost $7.5 billion.

 

However, I find it hard to believe it will cost that much. A new roof, new steeple and fire cleanup for $8 billion?

 

Somebody's pockets will be lined... No way it costs that much.

 

As somebody who has assembled bids on hospital construction, I can tell you that that is basically THE most expensive construction out there. For example...want to add in a new MRI machine, well the machine itself costs neighborhood of $800K. Installation rounds it out around a million. The room itself requires lead-lined walls and doors. Ever priced up a lead-lined door? Or the speciality hinges made to actually hold that door up? Or the door frame that can hold up a 600 pound door like that? The specialty contractors that do that kind of work are very few and far between. The construction of the ROOM ITSELF is neighborhood of $250K. Hospitals have soooo much to take into account...including the fact that so much of it has to be able to be self-contained and sterile once everything has been cleaned in the building. And then the computer systems that are built into modern medical facilities... I wouldn't bat an eye at a new ground-up hospital costing a billion dollars.

 

Plus, one thing that no one takes into account is that EVERYONE is adding on cost because of the litigious nature of the world. "Sue 'em all." The risk you take in having your hand in a medical facility in any way is huge. Contractors are sued all the time for simply being involved in building a surgical suite where an infection breaks out. If I'm building a hospital surgical suite, there's no way that I'm not adding cost to my bid simply because I know that down the line, there's a huge likelihood that I'm going to be hiring a lawyer to defend me when I'm named in a lawsuit for whatever goes on in that surgical suite.

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

I was thinking the same. Also thought the same when it was posted what it cost to repair the Washington Monument and Capitol.

 

Again, costs are everywhere. I'd bet that the cost of the scaffolding alone for both of those projects was over $1 million. That stuff has to get an engineer's stamp once it reaches a certain height or volume. And the Washington Monument was constructed of all dry-stacked stone. No mortar. NO MORTAR. Contractors capable of that kind of work are virtually non-existent in this day and age, so finding someone who is capable to perform the work is an enormous task in and of itself. That whole monument is virtually an enormous stone Jenga puzzle, and they have to hire someone to actually pull out damaged stones and replace them without anything toppling. If I'm the guy doing that work, keeping in mind that wrongful death suits in the US are regularly north of $3 million, I'm adding in a cost factor to my bid to bear that in mind and keep myself covered.

[TheDeuce]

As somebody who has assembled bids on hospital construction, I can tell you that that is basically THE most expensive construction out there. For example...want to add in a new MRI machine, well the machine itself costs neighborhood of $800K. Installation rounds it out around a million. The room itself requires lead-lined walls and doors. Ever priced up a lead-lined door? Or the speciality hinges made to actually hold that door up? Or the door frame that can hold up a 600 pound door like that? The specialty contractors that do that kind of work are very few and far between. The construction of the ROOM ITSELF is neighborhood of $250K. Hospitals have soooo much to take into account...including the fact that so much of it has to be able to be self-contained and sterile once everything has been cleaned in the building. And then the computer systems that are built into modern medical facilities... I wouldn't bat an eye at a new ground-up hospital costing a billion dollars.

 

Plus, one thing that no one takes into account is that EVERYONE is adding on cost because of the litigious nature of the world. "Sue 'em all." The risk you take in having your hand in a medical facility in any way is huge. Contractors are sued all the time for simply being involved in building a surgical suite where an infection breaks out. If I'm building a hospital surgical suite, there's no way that I'm not adding cost to my bid simply because I know that down the line, there's a huge likelihood that I'm going to be hiring a lawyer to defend me when I'm named in a lawsuit for whatever goes on in that surgical suite.

 

A hospital costing that much makes sense. Restoring an 800 year old building doesn't.

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

A hospital costing that much makes sense. Restoring an 800 year old building doesn't.

 

This is a situation of perceived value. This is a building that has stood as a an international symbol of the Catholic Church for almost half of the Church's existence. I'm frankly not terribly surprised that there are non-Catholics and non-French dwellers who don't understand the reasoning behind the renovation. Everyone is entitled to an opinion.

 

I guess its not entirely dissimilar to the way that I oftentimes shake my head when people rebuild houses that are damaged by fires or storms. Why not build a new one? But people are attached to things like that.

[tcjkbt]

It's not only a symbol of the Catholic Church but of France itself.

[Voice of Reason]

The posts above by @Colonels_Wear_Blue are more evidence of something I have said very often. Lawyers are a massive drain on our economy. Nothing would be a bigger boost to our economy than litigation reform.

[Jumper_Dad]

An estimated $790 million has been raised so far. Because the building is older than 1905, France actually owns the building...and is self-insured...meaning, there's no policy.

 

And, Reuters is reporting that the repair costs have been estimated to be somewhere in the range of $8 BILLION. (Somebody check on @TheDeuce ...he probably just had a heart attack.)

 

So the Catholic Church doesn't own it? That seems strange to me...but if France Nationalized all buildings I guess that's how it happened.

[Jumper_Dad]

$200 million for Turner field and it lasted barely 20 years.

$1.2 Billion for Cowboys Stadium (AT&T) it will be lucky to last 50 years, much less 800.

$5 Billion is the estimated final cost for the new LA Rams stadium...how long will it last?

 

I agree that $8 Billion seems like an insane amount and there are plenty of pockets getting lined if the cost goes that high.

[John Anthony]

So the Catholic Church doesn't own it? That seems strange to me...but if France Nationalized all buildings I guess that's how it happened.

 

They own all religious buildings built before 1905.